To Do or Not To Do

I've always loved lists. I'm one of those people who makes "To Do" lists and includes tasks I've already done, just so I can check them off my list. Every new year, Mark and I make New Year's Resolutions and vow to help each other keep them. The unfortunate thing is that, as good as I am at thinking of things to put in list form, I'm not very good at the follow-through. For example, I thought it would be clever to make one my 2007 resolutions a vow to pierce (actually re-pierce) my ears. I was just sure I would get up the nerve to do it--I had 365 days to get it done, after all. But I just couldn't bring myself to willingly allow some girl at a teeny-bopper mall store to put pokey metal through my cartilage. So now I have a good candidate for a 2008 resolution, except that I don't think I'll make resolutions this year (besides the obligatory "exercise more, eat less" one that should be vague enough to allow for some sense of accomplishment).

But I'm not really willing to give up the satisfying feeling of accomplishing a goal, so I'm starting to identify things I've done/am doing that I would have resolved to do, had I known I would have the chance and/or just feel like doing. Kind of like checking things you've already done off your "To Do" list. Example #1: dancing at a Turkish/Uzbek/Azerbaijani/Russian wedding. Three times. In front of lots of people, with at least 5 video cameras rolling. I wish I could post a video of what can only be described as my "free-style-arm flapping" (I was totally following cultural cues, by the way) but it was at a client's wedding, so confidentiality rules trump my desire to share the magic with the world. The main point, anyway, is that I somewhat overcame my anxiety about dancing in public and joined in the (very awkard) fun. I hope Mark will write more later about this wedding, because he had lots of interesting observations about it. I'll try to convince him to resolve to write more often on our blog in this new year.

Another Resolution Accomplished I'm identifying in retrospect is being more vegetarian. I'm not ready to give up my mom's spaghetti with meat sauce or Panera's Tuscan Chicken sandwich, but I am trying to learn about, appreciate, and consume more seasonal veggies and less meat. I have lots of reasons for doing this, but what I want to point out here is that, once upon a time, there were very few vegetables I enjoyed or even tolerated. And I didn't have a clue as to when asparagus, or squash, or green beans were in season. Now I think going to the Farmer's Market is the perfect way to spend a Saturday morning, and I was THRILLED to receive the following items as Christmas presents:

So had I resolved to learn to love vegetables, I would have succeeded! But I didn't resolve to do that, which is probably why I succeeded. So now, back to the ear piercing. I think if I DON'T resolve to do it in 2008, I'll probably be very successful and get it done relatively soon. Who knows what else 2008 might hold? I sure don't, which is what will make it even more fun...